There are currently in primary use three basic ways for closing wounds resulting from surgical incisions or accidental lacerations. These are sutures, surgical staples, and surgical skin tapes. Sutures are generally recognized as providing adequate wound support for the duration of wound healing. However, suturing involves additional trauma to the wound, as the needle and suture material must be passed through the tissue at the margins of the wound. In addition, suturing can cause cosmetically unattractive wound closure marks, can be time consuming, and, depending on techniques and types of sutures used, may require removal. Such removal entails further medical attention and can involve additional pain and trauma to the patient if the sutures become embedded in the wound.
Surgical staples have disadvantages similar to sutures in terms of cosmetic result. Further, removal of the staples can be painful and, depending on location and patient pain threshold, may require topical anesthetics.
Skin closure strips are utilized for closure of relatively superficial skin wounds. However, the contact adhesives that are used with such strips typically retain holding power for no more than a day or two and can lose holding power quickly in the presence of moisture, for example, perspiration.
Direct application of adhesives has also been proposed and used for wound closure purposes, especially involving cyanoacrylate adhesives. However, such materials have not achieved widespread use for wound closure.